JEFF EDELSTEIN: Is Macklemore and Thrift Shop a sign of the times, or another Ice Ice Baby?'

It’s rare when you can look at a current moment in pop culture and know in 10 years it’s going to be seen as a turning point for all of America.

It’s also equally rare when you can look at a current moment in pop culture and know in 10 years we’re all going to be laughing at ourselves for thinking that moment was going to be a turning point for all of America.

It’s even more rare when you can look at a current moment in pop culture and know it’s definitely going one way or another.

So maybe in 10 years we’ll look at “Thrift Shop” by rapper Macklemore and producer Ryan Lewis and realize the folly of our consumer-driven ways, or maybe in 10 years we’ll look at “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and treat it like a 21st century version of “Ice Ice Baby.” A joke. A blip. A non-starter. (BTW, if you decide to watch the video at work, lyrics NSFW.)

It can go either way. We’re at the rarest pop culture moment imaginable: a pop culture event horizon. We’re being sucked into the black hole, and what comes out the other side is anyone’s guess.

For those who aren’t aware — or those just coming online to the whole Macklemore phenomenon — quickest explainer ever: Macklemore is a rapper from Seattle. (He’s also white, which matters a little bit. I’ll touch on that later.) Has the number one song in America right now, a paean to all things second hand and inexpensive, “Thrift Shop.” Sample (and key) lyric: “They be like ‘Oh that Gucci, that’s hella tight’/I’m like “Yo, that’s fifty dollars for a t-shirt’/Limited edition, let’s do some simple addition/Fifty dollars for a t-shirt, that’s just some ignorant (bleep bleep)/I call that getting swindled and pimped, (bleep)/I call that getting tricked by business.

To be clear: In a country where 70 percent of our gross domestic product comes from consumption, the number one hit single across the Billboard pop and rap (and ringtone, download, streaming, R&B, digital and on-demand) charts is a love song to an austere lifestyle.

That’s a bargain (bleep), I’mma take your grandpa style

I’mma take your grandpa style, no for real, ask your grandpa

Can I have his hand-me-downs? Velour jumpsuit and some house slippers.

Already, there’s backlash. (Well, “already” is strong, as the song has been out since late summer, but only now getting around to the unhip among us. Like me.) A recent Spin magazine piece tore the song to shreds, pointing out Macklemore is really just bragging about getting cool clothes cheap, and the whole “anti-consumerism” thing people like me are pointing out is simply what people like “me” (holier-than-thou, white, social liberal) are “projecting” on to the song.

Well, I disagree. I may be projecting, but not for those reasons. Holier-than-thou? OK fine, a little. You want to spend money on Gucci T-shirts, be my guest. And while I may be a social liberal, I’m at least honest enough to admit I’m a hypocrite, as I’m also a fiscal conservative. Basically, I want to feed the world, but not on my dime. So again: You want to buy a $50 T-shirt? Great. But don’t come to me later pleading poverty. I’m white (and goofy), and that’s slightly important, as Macklemore is also white and the song is downright goofy, and so the message he’s sending — if indeed there is a message — could easily be laughed off by a large majority of rap fans.

But ...But while Macklemore may not be rapping to 40-year-olds with a mortgage and two kids, it doesn’t mean the perceived message he’s preaching — second hand and inexpensive is smarter, period, than new and expensive — isn’t connecting with people. Especially people who otherwise A) don’t listen to rap and B) are actually 40-year-olds with a mortgage and two kids.

I’ve written about this before. Written about how my wife and I make sure our kids have fine clothes and great toys, but also make sure to rarely buy anything retail. I’ve talked about how my generation is going to mimic the Depression-era generation, and will refuse to go into debt to fund a lifestyle. My generation — people born between 1964 and 1980, Generation X — saw where conspicuous consumption can lead: It’s called the Great Recession, and we’ve been financially scarred by it.

Macklemore’s song speaks directly to an audience he didn’t intend to hit, namely, adults. Believe me — I’m not all of a sudden going to be buying $70,000 sports cars in 10 years. Based on what happened back in 2008 (and continues to this day), there is no way I can forsee myself and a large chunk of my generation spending frivolously as the years go by. It’s just not going to happen, much in the same way Depression-era people kept their cash close by, no matter how much better the economy got.

So yeah — whether he intended it or not — “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore may serve as one of those singular moments in pop culture history we can one day point to as a moment of a greater cultural awakening, or at least a moment that synced perfectly with a growing trend, in this case, the tightening of personal budgets.

Or maybe we’ll forget all about it by 2023 and instead be rollin in our 5.0, with our ragtops down so our hair can blow.